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Category Archives: Obviousness Type Double Patenting

Federal Circuit Finds Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Without Common Ownership

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Federal Circuit Decisions; Obviousness Type Double Patenting

Obviousness-type double patenting usually arises between commonly-owned patents or patent applications. While the USPTO has interpreted the judicially-created doctrine as pertaining when there is common or overlapping inventorship, without regard to common ownership, the Federal Circuit had not upheld that interpretation of the doctrine until last week, in In re Hubbell.Continue reading this entry

Federal Circuit Clarifies Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Between Products And Methods

Posted by Leon Y. Lum on Posted in Federal Circuit Decisions; Obviousness Type Double Patenting

In Eli Lilly and Company v. Teva Parenteral Medicines, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision that Eli Lilly’s patent to pemetrexed is not invalid for obviousness-type double patenting. The Federal Circuit’s decision provides important guidance on one of the most complex areas of  U.S. patent jurisprudence, and explains how information in the specification can be used in a double patenting analysis, discusses when obviousness-type double patenting may arise between product and method claims, and notes that unexpected results may be relevant to obviousness-type double patenting.Continue reading this entry